1980 : Born! This was a big day for me (obviously) as it was the day that brought my shining smiling face into the world. (Okay, enough cheeseball stuff here!)

Between 1980 and now (2001) has been quite a whirlwind of events. Between birth, growing up (still in progress mind you!), school and work, there's been all sorts of things that have had quite the impact on my life. The most prominent to this day, and probably for the rest of my life, will be in March, 2000. It was during this month, in the midst of my sophomore year of college at California State University, Monterey Bay, that I was diagnosed with having a condition known as Hodgkin's Disease. Essentially, its a form of cancer that affects the lymphatic system in the body. (The garbage service of the body for bacteria and other bad stuff like that.) Anyway, I underwent 12 weeks of chemotherapy, followed by a four week vacation, only to be followed on the heels by another four weeks of radiation therapy (5 days a week) in an attempt to beat down the illness. All seemed well in September when my CT (Cat) scan results indicated that all looked good.

From there I went on a 6 month period of feeling good, recovering from the treatments and thinking all was well from here on out. Until March (again!) of this year. I went in to the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP) for my 'routine' six month CT scan, and this time around the results left something to be desired. It appeared that there was a new bit of growth in the chest area where I'd had the mass a year before, and with this news came the pleasant information that I now had to go through MORE chemotherapy and while I get to skip out on the radiation this time, I'll be spending some time at Stanford while they really knock it down! God willing, we'll get it this time!

And now, onto the story of my life (so far!) ...